Every Boat is Always for Sale – the Long-Term View

Market view suggests treating your boat as an asset to hold until you’re ready to sell.

Boat owners can profit from current market conditions if they are willing to take the long-term view on sales, experts at Boatshed say.

Overall, the key market characteristics are:

The market remains smaller than it was, but there are a growing number of buyers looking for decent, good-value boats.

The new-boat market is depressed, whilst the used-boat market has started to show signs of embedded recovery after many years of decline and stagnation.

The trend for medium-sized sailboat ownership continues.

Incorrect pricing is the biggest obstacle to boat sales, while correctly priced boats are selling quickly.

Generally, there is a shortage of quality used-boat stock across most market sectors.

So there is a shortage of quality used boats, and a growing number of buyers looking for good value. Looking to the long term can offer great returns to boat owners in these conditions.

Every Boat is Always for Sale – the Long-Term View

Taking the long-term view means understanding that every boat is always for sale.

What does that mean? Owning a boat is an emotional process, one in which owners typically go from ‘love’ to ‘hate’ to ‘love’ to ‘hate’ at regular times in the ownership cycle.

Give me a glorious summer afternoon in 15 knots of pleasant breeze onboard our ketch, and I’m right at the top of the boat ownership reward curve. But catch me in mid-January, when the boat is ashore in need of a new saildrive diaphragm, steering parts, an antifoul job and I’ve just noticed some hull blistering that looks suspiciously like osmosis, and it’s fair to say I am towards the bottom of the cycle!

All of this means that, while you love your boat, at any time you may shift into ‘hate’ mode. And you may wish to sell. But the selling process can take a long time, and you may not fulfil your expectations if you try to hurry it up.

Boatshed – No Commitment

This is why Boatshed offers long-term listings with no commitment. List your boat with Boatshed, and, if you don’t feel like selling, just keep on sailing!

On the other hand, if you’re ready, Boatshed will find you a buyer that’s really looking for a boat just like yours.

Consider your boat as an asset, like a house or an investment in a company. You can hold it for as long as you like, but if the market becomes favourable, of if you receive an offer that you really like, you can also sell. Listing with Boatshed permits you to decide according to how you feel.

I love my boat; I’ve had it for years and sailed thousands of miles in it with my wife. I doubt I’ll ever sell it – well, not for years anyway – but you never know? If someone happened to offer me the right price at just the right time, I might sell and step up to that bluewater cruiser I keep admiring in the marina…or I might not. The point is, with this Boatshed service, the choice would be entirely mine

At Boatshed we give you that choice. We will photograph, video and market your boat using the full suite of Boatshed’s cutting-edge technology, free of charge. We even protect your identity and that of the boat, so only you will know that the boat is up on offer. If we receive an offer, we pass it on to you to consider, or not, as you prefer. No pressure from us to sell or negotiate or make a counter-offer. Of course, we can do all of those things if you want us to, but equally we will happily decline any offer on your behalf if you are not ready to sell and just keep on marketing the boat until you might be.

If you are interested in Boatshed’s no-commitment, no-charge offer to advertise your boat, just ask your local Boatshed broker or call our Central Sales office, or find us here. You really have nothing to lose, the potential for gain is great – and, anyway, you can do what you feel!